...with grace and beauty...

~

Ellice couldn't contain herself. She spun in circles and flailed her tail about.

She was strong and capable, but in some ways I knew she was the same friend I said goodbye to 6 years ago.

I couldn't help but succumb to the contagiousness of her happy dance and start laughing along with her, which ended up in us locking arms and doing a jig like we used to when we were little kids.

"So I take that as a yes?" I said as we calmed down and both sat on the log near the edge of the path.

She got down on one knee.

"I've never wanted anything more."

Whoah... That was unexpected.

Her eyes gleamed with admiration and excitement, but also a fiery, unbreakable determination, and her tail gently swung from side to side.

Then she bowed her head almost to her knee.

"King Magyara," she began, using my family name. "I wish to serve you as your first true subject and subordinate. Wherever you go, I want to be there as your sword and as your friend, and-"

"Rise, Ellie," I commanded. She did so with a proudness radiating from her. "Whether as a king or as your lover, I'd want you by my side."

She sighed in relief.

"It may have been a few years, but that doesn't mean I suddenly don't want you around."

Though I'm sure it seemed like I didn't back then.

"How's that hair of yours now?"

She reached out and drew my hood away from my face. She almost said something, but I quickly snapped my hand up and put it back on, looking side to side to make sure nobody saw.

Some people were out on the road in the city, but they were buying goods or talking, and all facing the other way.

Ellice furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry..."

"You're fine. We have to go, though. I can't be seen."

"I know just the place," she said as she smiled.

We began to slink into the trees. As we disappeared from sight, I took my hood off and tapped Ellice on the shoulder.

"For the record," I began. "It's not much different."

She gasped. "Oh my gods..."

"What?" I chuckled.

"It's so much different," she jabbed me in the shoulder. "What happened to it??"

"That's a story for later," I teased only to be met with an irritated frown from her, to which I only laughed and reiterated what I said.

"So, where are we going?" I diverted the topic.

"Home!"

"Whose?"

"Mine... why?"

I sighed. "Shit. I can't be seen there. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," she cheered as if that wasn't a ridiculously serious thing. "It's my own place. I built it not too far away."

"Ah," I said with a small sigh of relief.

...

"...wait a minute you built yourself a house?"

"Yeah!" She cheered. "Well it's not anything brilliant. It's more of a place to escape or stay when I have work to do in Donthaar."

Ellice took me through the forest, with no clear path or sign of direction. But, she was raised to know how to navigate the woods in exactly those conditions, or worse.

After a decent few minutes, we reached a sort of cirque, where a dark stone cliff sat before and beside us, maybe 30 feet high, and from it flowed a small waterfall, which dropped into a small pond.

A - once again - small cottage was in front of the pond, and it looked well-taken-care-of and quite humble.

"This is... cozy," I commented as my wife smiled and waved around at the scenery.

"Not normally my style, but I really like it. Your dad helped me build it, cause Zovi knows I could never."

I smiled contently. After everything that happened, I'd imagine my dad wants nothing to do with me or Ellice, or even Riyelle.

But, it's good to know he'd help at least her.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

We got inside her small cottage, which gave me the vibe of both a survival house and a summer home. Beautiful and comfy, but full of maps and extra tools and some weapons.

Eventually, we had some tea at the table, and that's when I decided to propose my plan to Ellice.

"Feel like a kidnapping?" I asked with a light mischievousness.

She shouldn't have smiled as much as she did, but boy did she look thoroughly pleased.

"And who will we be adopting into our lovely family?"

"I don't have a name, but I have a face. There's a new batch of trainees in Donthaar. Word has it they were summoned."

Her eyes widened.

"So we're catching a leprechaun?"

"We're catching the leader of a pack of leprechauns. The lead student of the future 'Heroes'."

~

Lydia

We sat outside, eating lunch in the rain under what I could best describe as a larger gazebo, but one directly connected to the castle.

Lasory, Sage, and Fezege all made light conversation, but I wasn't focused on them or the soup we were eating.

I was ogling at the rain pouring around us, collecting and trickling down the glass roof of the gazebo.

The rain is just amazing. It's so calming, yet so invigorating. It lets me think, it helps me feel - I've had more than a few nostalgic walks in storms with nothing but a light sweater and umbrella.

I was snapped from my thoughts by a light hit on my cheek.

"I can't tell what's wetter, the ground from the rain, or your face from all that drool," Sage teased me.

I quickly wiped my face, only to find my hand dry. Sage only laughed at my hard glare.

"Sorry I just... really like the rain," I apologized.

She laughed again and shook her head.

"I'm just giving you a hard time."

I caught a smug, content smile from Fezege for a brief moment before she realized I saw her and discarded the look.

She gave me a wink before quickly returning to talking with Lasory.

"I didn't know you were obsessed with the rain," Sage said, turning her chair towards me.

I had my chair near the fence, so I flipped myself around and straddled the back of it, resting my head on my folded arms and fixing my glasses.

"Do you really blame me, though?"

"I can't say I ogle over it like you but... yeah I think the rain is nice."

That's real convincing.

"You gonna have some soup? It's pretty good."

"You gonna eat your lunch? It's good for you, believe it or not."

Just go away. You're only making things harder on me.

"I could trade you," she offered genuinely.

I looked at the pizza she got down the street and then at my boring plate of a burrito and refried beans that tasted like the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

Why do you like me so much??

I looked down at my still-steaming bowl of white soup, grabbing my spoon and taking a bite. It had this creaminess to it, yet it was warm and had vegetables I'd never tasted before.

I let out a long "Mmmmmm" as I closed my eyes and then looked back at the rain and let the taste of the soup sit on my tongue.

Sage gave me a weird look that slowly shifted into one of pride and joy.

"You know if I were a stranger I'd guess you were high, and at this point, maybe you are. But, I'm glad you like the soup. I made it myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" She cheered. "Fezege put me on lunch duty and I didn't know what to pick so I made soup cause I know it's your favorite."

I used to bring soup my mom made once a week to school. I'd eat it before lunch so it was still hot, and sometimes Sage would ask for a bite. I always let her because, well, how can you refuse her?

"It's not your mom's recipe, but..."

"It's good," I complimented, and she smiled like she'd seen a lost puppy see its mother again.

I can't remember a time Sage and I were able to have such a casual conversation. Though, she seemed far more open today than normal.

After a little more soup and chatter, Fezege clapped her hands together.

"What do you say to bringing the others here? We have too much soup left."

She had this subtle urgency, almost mischief in her tone, as if that wasn't the real reason she wanted to bring the people I grew up with out here in my happiest place.

Granted, she has no idea I grew up with them. Unless Sage said something, which probably wouldn't surprise me.

Then again, I suppose these people have no idea I used to be the one they'd shove around the halls of that small-town school and call autistic...

not that they were wrong.

~

Sage

Fezege thinks she's just so brilliant. Trying to rope Vincent into this military and her schemes too. I used to think she was the friendly outlier, a passive viewer of the events of the kingdom from the inside, with no real aim for being here.

Now, I'm coming to terms with the reality that she's likely working with the Holy Knights. Everything about this kingdom is disgusting; from the fact that they'd massacre a whole kingdom to the blatant exploitation of people from an entirely different world, stolen from their homes, this place is somewhere I don't want to be any longer.

But I can't run away. I'd have nowhere to go and no way to get there.

So, here I am, fetching the last people I'm sure Vincent wants to see right now. Really the last people I want to see right now.

All so Fezege can introduce them and slowly try to goad him into joining us as Trainees. I get what's happening.

Or perhaps she'll just straight-up have us kill him then. It would be convenient.

Can't say I'd be capable of stopping her. But Fezege isn't that theatrical and drastic. If she were in on this, her plan would be far more elaborate.

All I know is, I'm stressed, angry, and most of all confused. I still don't know why I'm here, even after all this time, and I definitely have no idea where I'm supposed to go, or how to get home, or really if I can get home.

I don't know how or why we've all been caught up in these war schemes and played like pawns in someone else's game.

I nearly screeched to the feeling of a hand on my shoulder, being pulled instantly from my thoughts. It was Yoru.

"You almost walked right past our hall," she commented with less tease and more concern. "You good?"

"I lost track of directions?" I tried to joke, but it came out nervously.

"Well anyways," she sidetracked, sensing the sensitivity of my mood. "What are you up to?"

"Grabbing you guys, actually," I said while straightening my hair.

"What for?"

"Fezege wants everyone to come outside."

Yoru rolled her eyes and sighed as she brought the other 3 out here. Kieth, Angelina, and Edgar.

"What for have you summoned us, oh dearest leader?" Keith mocked, barely doing a good job of even that.

"Put a sock in it," I demanded. "Fezege wanted everyone out in the meeting gazebo so I'm only here to get you."

Yoru cut in. "What for?" She asked again with a cheery tone that said "stop arguing."

"I think she wants you to meet the Messengers from Sakari and probably has other things to talk about. Or maybe she just wants to have some lunch with you guys."

"In the rain?" Keith questioned.

"In a gazebo, stupid."

He didn't seem too happy to be called stupid, but I could kick his ass in a fight and he knows it, because I have - more than once.

So, I gathered the group of Trainees, us to-be "Heroes", and took us back outside, where the rain let on with no signs of stopping. I half expected Vincent... or... Lydia to be bordering on a seizure over the rain, but instead she looked down, like she was contemplating something serious.

Me and you both, buddy.

So, Fezege gave me a happy and cheery hello, along with the other four who trickled in behind me.

"So everyone," she began. "I'd like you to meet Lydia Sakari!"